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Late on Wednesday night, Tiger said it would part ways with the chief executive of its Australian operations, Crawford Rix, at the end of the month.

He will be replaced by Tony Davis. Mr Davis will, in turn, be succeeded as the Singapore-based company’s chief executive by Chin Yau Seng.

Mr Chin joined the board of Tiger last week and worked in a number of high-ranking positions with Singapore Airlines, Tiger’s main shareholder.

Tiger said in a statement it was optimistic about resuming operations, which were suspended a week ago on safety grounds.

“Tiger is committed to working with the industry regulator and other authorities to resolve their issues, something we are confident we can do in the coming days and weeks," it said. The company said it was working with all its staff to re­assure them about the airline’s future.

A CASA spokesman said it expected the Melbourne-based airline to remain suspended until August 1.

“Assuming nothing else arises, the intention will be after that to get Tiger to make the appropriate changes so they can operate again," he said.

Many observers have doubts over Tiger’s future, given the huge publicity given to the enforced shutdown.

“The worst is not yet over," Rigan Wong, an analyst at Citigroup in Singapore, told clients. “Tiger’s brand reputation has been severely damaged."

Virgin Group chief executive
Richard Branson
said: “I think it’s going to be tough to come back from that, but obviously for the sake of all the staff, let’s hope they manage to get their act together and be back in a month’s time."

Analysts say Virgin Australia would be one of the main beneficiaries of the collapse of Tiger.